Tuck-folder for sewing-machines.



No. 689,100. Patented Dec. l7, l90l.

A. LAUBSU-HEH. TUGK FOLDER FUR SEWING MACHlNES.

' (Application filed Oct. 22, 1900.) '(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheeii I.

IN VENTOH A. LA UBSOHER A 770mm E 3 r A ,M Q J n w i m av m w E L W v r W N0. 689,!00. Patented Dec. l7, l90l. A. LAUBSCHEB.

TUCK FOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

(Application filed. Oct. 22, 1900.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shem 2.

WITNESSES A. WM;

A 770HNEY //v VENTOH A. LAUBSCHER 1 NITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

ALEXANDER LAUBSCI'IER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WHEELER dz WILSON MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

-FOLDER FOR SEWING WIACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,100, dated December 17, 1901. Application filed October 22, 1900. Serial NO- 33383. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: 1 braced therein, said section being on line at to Beit known that LALEXANDERLAUBSOHER, of Fig. 4.

a citizen of the United States, and a resident The back-plate slide A of the sewing-maof Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and chine is of the usual construction except for State of Connecticut, have invented certain the stop-pin a, which I insert permanently,

newand useful ImprovementsinTuck-Foldand the screw-holes a, a and a for uses ore for Sewing-Machines, of which the followhereinafter stated.

ing is a specification. Upon plate A, I place the tuck-guard 13, The object of my invention is to produce a with its slot 5 directly over the holes a and I0 tuck-folderfor use in connection with sewinga and over tuck-guard B, I place the spacemachines which will have better safeguards gage C, with its slot 0 directly over slot 1) of to surround the folded tuck and insure plate B, and still over space-gage C, I place greater accuracy in the width of the same the clamping-plate D, with its holes dand d and also which will have a greater capacity directly over slot 0 in space-gage C, and se- 15 for large pieces of work than any heretofore cure all of said plates to the back-plate slide o constructed, the advantage sought being to A by means of screws e and e. (Best seen enable manufacturers to produce tucking in in Fig. 4.) As thus placed upon the backlarge pieces ready for cutting into small plate slide it will be seen that the front end pieces as may be required in the manufacture of the tuck-guard B lies in close proximity to 20 of garments. the needle-hole g in the throat-plate, so

The apparatus herein described possesses called, of the sewing-machine, as best seen in some features in common with and may be Fig. 4, and when screws 6 and e are loosened considered an improvement upon the tuckthe tuck-guard B may by means of its pin b ing-guide described in United States Patent be moved to right or left and the superim- 25 No. 645,321, issued to myself March 13, 1900; posed space-gage C also set to right or left but the description following will be confined and all secured by tightening screws e and e to such features as are the subject of this apof the clamping-plate D. plication. Upon the front edge of the space-gage C, I

In the accompanying drawings, which form attach the stops F and F by means of screws 0 a part of this specification, Figure lis a side f andf, as shown in Fig. 4, for the purposes elevation of my apparatus complete as applied hereinafter explained. to a sewing-machine and its work-table, only To cooperate with the parts already deso much of the sewing-machine and table bescribed, I employ a tuck-gage, as shown at H, ing shown, however, as is necessary to illuswhich consists of a thin blade of metal ad- 35 trate the manner of applying my apparatus justably attached, by means of screws h 72, thereto; Fig. 2, a plan View of the swivel-plate Fig. 4, to an underlying plate K, which is in and base-plate, with a portion of the tuckturn permanently attached to an extended guide arm attached 3 Fig. 3, a vertical secarm, preferably of wood and a yard (more or tional View of last-named parts divided on less) in length, as shown at L in Fig; 1, and

40 line a; 00 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a plan view of end which is so supported as to be capable of ac- 0 of bed-plate of sewing'machine with operacurate adjustment in relation to the needle ,tive parts of my apparatus as applied thereto; and so pivoted as to be capable of being drawn Fig. 5, a perspective View of the back-plate toward the operator, as indicated by dotted slide (so called) of the sewing-machine, with lines in Fig. 4, or turned to an erect position,

such parts of my apparatus as are attached as shown by dotted linesin Fig. 1, all for pur- 5 thereto when in operation all detached the poses hereinafter explained.

better to show their construction; and Fig. 6, As a support for the arm L, I secure, by a vertical sectional View of such parts of my means of screws or otherwise, to the workapparatus as embrace and guide the fabric table, the upper surface of which is'repre- 50 to the needle, together with the fabric emsented by the line M, Fig. 1, a metal baseplate (shown at N in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,) and pivotally attach thereon, by means of the bolt 0 and nut O, a member which I term a swivelplate, shaped as shown at P in Figs. 1, 2, and 3. The belt carries a non-turnable washer beneath the nut O to prevent the latter from turning with the swivel-plate and is surrounded by a compressed coiled spring Y, which by its expansiveness forces the swivelplate upon the base-plate N sufficiently to prevent by friction the swivel-plate from turning except when forcibly turned at the pleasure of the operator. The swivel-plate P is provided with an elevation or wall across its top, from the ends of which rise the upright standards p and 19, into the top of each of which is inserted a screw-held pintle, (shown at p and 19 To the rear end of the arm L, by means of the screws rand r, I permanentlyattach the bracket, (shown at R in Figs. 1 and 3.) The bracket R is of suitable width at its base to pass freely between standards 29 and p and has suitable holes to receive the points of the pintles p and p, by means of which the completed arm L is pivotally attached to the swivel-plate P.

To provide for necessary accurate adjustment of the height of the tuck-gage H, I insert into the wall before referred to upon the swivel-plate P a check-nut-held adjusting thumb-screw T, whose end comes in contact with a lug S, madeintegral with and depending from the bracket R. Upon the said wall I also erect a compression-lever, as shown at U, which lever is secured somewhat loosely by' the small screw near its lower end and the large and headed screw re, placed some distance above the same, which latter screw is surrounded by the coiled compression-spring u in which position the upper end of the le- Ver; is held firmly pressed against the upper corner of the rear end of the bracket B. As so pressed the tendency of the lever U is to so act upon the arm L as to throw the tuckgage H downward were it not restrained by contact of the lug S against the adjusting thumb-screw T.

For properly adjusting and controlling the movements of the plate P upon the plate N, I provide a lug V, made integral with plate Pand overhanging the outer edge of baseplate N, and insert through said lug a checknut-held thumb-screw V, whose end comes in contact with a corresponding lug V raised from the base-plate N, all as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

As used in connection with my apparatus the sewing-machine is placed upon a base, a portion of which is shown at W in Fig. 1, which base is of such height that the clothplate of the sewing-machine may stand, say, three inches above the surface M of the worktable, and the standards of the swivel-plate P are of a height to correspond therewith in order that a large quantity of work may be passed between the arm L and the Work-table.

With parts assembled as described it will be seen that the contact of thumb-screw V against the lug V will not only restrain the tuckguide H from being carried forward by the passing fabric, but that by means of said thumb-screw the tuck-guide maybe adjusted to accurate position in relation to the needle and that by means of the thumb-screwT the height of the tuck-guide H may be accurately adjusted, so as to press with the necessary pressure against the lower surface of the space-gage G.

The operation of my apparatus is as follows: The guiding edge of the tuck-gage H is set as far to the right of the needle (the position of which is indicated by the needle-hole shown atg in Fig. 4.) as it is desired that the tuck shall be in width, and the tuck-guard B is moved forward and secured with its endin close proximity thereto, only space enough being left for the passage of the fabric, and the overlying space-gage O is so set that its guiding edge will stand as far to the left of the needle as it is desired to have the tucks apart and there secured by means of screws 6 and c, and the stop F, carried by the spacegage O, is set against the stop-pin a and there secured by means of its screw f. The body of the fabric to be tucked is passed beneath the arm L and its end passed above the clothplate of the sewingmachine beneath and folded outward over the tuck-gage H and beneath the space-gage O, and the first tuck is folded and stitched upon the fabric. To make the succeeding tucks, the fabric is entered in same manner and drawn over sutiiciently for the space-gage O to enter beneath the preceding tnck Z and the fabric so guided that the line of stitching will follow the edge of the space-gage 0, all as shown in Fig. 6. To facilitate the guiding of the work, the thumbscrew T is so adjusted as to cause the tuckgage H to exert an upward pressure upon the under surface of the space-gage O sufficient to render it difficult for the tuck to be forced under the latter, though the guiding of the garment may be such as to incline the tuck quite forcibly against it, by which arrangement the apparatus is rendered selfguiding' to the greatest possible degree. If it is desirable to make tucks in successive clusters after stitching the first cluster, the space-gage O is set as much farther to the left as it is desired the space between the clusters shall exceed the space between the tucks, and the stop F set against the stop-pin a and secured by screw f after which the stops F and F remain permanently set. When the first tuck of each succeeding cluster has been made, the space-gage is set back to first position, with stop F against stop-pin a, in readiness for the succeeding cluster, and again forward, with stop F against stop-pin a for the succeeding space between clusters, by

which means the operator is enabled to change from one width of space to another not only with quickness, but with perfect regularity. While this means of regulating spaces of tucks and clusters is of great importance, I do not seek to cover it in this application, it having been embodied, though by different construction,in my apparatus patented March 13, 1900, already referred to.

In tucking such garments as skirts, pillow-cases, and the like, which have first been side-seamed, before the circuit is completed in the formation of a tuck the arm bearing the tuck-gage II is withdrawn, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4, sufficiently to clear the starting end of the seam and returned to first position beforecommencing the next tuck.

When not in use, the arm L is thrown to an upright position, where it is held by pressure of the spring-actuated lever U pressing against the upper surface of the bracket R, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a tuck-folder, for sewing-machines, a tuck-gage capable of horizontal axial movement into and out of operative position without displacement of the parts cooperating to form the folds, means including an adjustably-secured stop whereby said tuck-gage is held rigidly against movement with the pass ing fabric, and means including frictionallymounted plates to hold the tuck-gage out of operative position, combined and arranged substantially as described.

2. In a tuck-folder, for sewingmachines, a tuck-gage capable of horizontal axial movement into and out of operative position without displacement of the parts cooperating to form the folds, means including an adjustably-secured stop whereby said tuck-gage is held rigidly against movement with the passing fabric, means including frictionallymounted plates to hold the tuck-gage out of operative position and upon which said tuckgage is hinged and capable of vertical movement, and means to retain said gage in such adjustment, combined and arranged substantially as described.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, this 18th day of October, A. D. 1900.

ALEXANDER LAUBSCHER.

itnesses:

A. STEWARD, O. N. WORTHEN. 

